Life As They Know It
by kayy christine
Summary: Never in her life, Winry pictured herself in this position.  She felt weak, but the encouragement his eyes held gave her the strength to push on and answer the innocent question of, "Where's Mommy and Daddy?" Full summary inside. AU EdWin.
1. Life Is Unpredictable

_Life As They Know It_

Summary: The basic concept of this story was taken from the movie _"Life As We Know It"_starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel, it's a very good story for those of you who haven't seen it! It's obviously AU from the point of the brother's learning their alchemy from Izumi and on, they do not attempt human transmutation when they get home from training, so the brother's are whole, but still mastermind alchemists. After Ed and Winry graduated from high school in Resembool, they moved to Central. Ed enlisted in the military as a state alchemist with Al following after him a year later, they live in their own apartment. Winry attends medical school, majoring in automail engineering and medicine at Central University and lives with the Hughes family, she also has a part time job at a car garage as a mechanic. One night when Winry was home with Elysia, Maes and Gracia are suddenly killed in a car accident and it's put upon Edward and Winry to take care of their daughter in their place.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or the film, _"Life As We Know It"._

**_"Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end."_**

_Life Is Unpredictable_

Winry breathed in the crisp, autumn air as she bolted through the college's front doors, it was the weekend and she did not plan on wasting another minute of it inside of the school. For the past three and a half years now, that building has felt like nothing more than a prison to her, holding her back from really getting both her profession and life started. She had already learned everything there is to know about automail engineering from the best there is, her grandmother, and on top of that, when she was still in high school, Granny would let her spend her summer breaks in Rush Valley, working as an apprentice of Mr. Garfiel. She was hoping to open up her own shop in Rush Valley one day as well, if she ever finished school that is! Four years of classes, clinics, and shadowing felt like a long time when you really had nothing to learn, but if she wanted to open up her own practice someday, she had to do it the right way and earn her degree. She was a Rockbell and Rockbells never took shortcuts when it came to their professions.

She walked just a few streets over to the corner cafe that her and her two best friends always liked to hang out, she smiled when she saw Ed already sitting at a table and waiting on her from accross the street. Wrapping her coat tighter around her chest to block the cold weather, she went over to meet him.

"How was class?" He took a gulp of his soda and moved his pile of paperwork over so she could sit down at the small table.

"Mm, it was okay. Boring really." She plopped her pile of books on top of his paperwork and sat down.

"Bet you're happy you only got a semester left after winter break."

"Oh I am! I can't wait to be finished and start my own practice, it'll be the best in all Amestris!" She cheered with a gleam in her eye and Ed smiled at her. "Where's Al?"

"Still at Headquarters, he's finishing up some special project or something." he shrugged, "You workin' tonight?"

"Nope."

"You comin' over to cook dinner or are we hanging out at Hughes' house?"

"You guys can come over, I have Elysia tonight so we should just stay there so she can be in bed on time."

"Kay."

She didn't know why, but once her and Ed hit puberty in middle school their friendship hasn't been the same. They were still best friends, practically brother and sister, but their sibiling like relationship seemed to be fading more every year as they got older. They both knew the other felt their relationship changing also, it's a slow change and it's still a change in progress. Eight years of feeling more than just familial love for eachother and their relationship hasn't progressed past harmless flirting and pecks on the cheek when it came time to say goodbye. Winry had a feeling that it just wasn't the right time for a relationship yet, she had enough on her plate as it is, and God forbid if she and Ed did get together, but it ruined their friendship and cost her to lose him, she couldn't handle that. Her main focus was to make it through school and save up as much money by working in the old mechanics shop for now. She knew Ed wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

"How was work?" She leaned in and rested her forearms on the table, watching Ed stir his ice cubes around in his empty glass.

"Hell." He rolled his eyes and waved for the waiter to bring him and Winry a drink, "Mustang thinks he's such a goddamn know-it-all, makes me sick."

"And you don't think you know it all?"

"I do!"

"About?"

"E-everything...he's just a dick!" He snatched the new cola from the waiter and took a swig while Winry apologized for his behavior and asked for the check.

"Why? Cause he rejected an idea of yours and your pissed because he has the power to do so?"

Edward huffed.

"Hmph, you've got ego issues. What was your idea?"

He sighed and sat his soda down, "Not an idea."

"Well then what?"

"I want a damn promotion!"

Winry sat back and crossed her arms, smirking. "What makes you think you deserve one?"

"I've been a major for four years now! I'm ready to start moving up so I can start doing what I want! I'm sick of everyone telling me what I should and shouldn't do! I'm starting to wish I just started school when you did so I could be graduating in a few months. I thought the military would be different, it's not teaching me anything Izumi hasn't already taught me."

"You feel like your wasting time?"

He nodded and continued on, "I want to be able to research more into alchemy, I want to actually learn something. I thought by joining I could do that but all they want me to do is sit on my ass in Mustang's office and fill out stupid shit."

"It's not a waste of time Ed," she crossed her legs and reached for one of her books, "Look at your paperwork as school books, it's not needed but it's something you have to do, once you're done with the work and prove you've learned everything you need to know, you'll graduate a.k.a. get a promotion." She punched him in the arm when he rolled his eyes at her, "They'll promote you when they feel you've done enough of the basic office work, it's the same as me, I graduate when I finish my classes. We both know Mustang's not planning on keeping you a Major for the rest of your career."

"Yea, yea." he linked his arm with hers as they began walking to his apartment to pick up Al, "Thanks."

She felt her cheeks warm, despite the temperature outside, "Welcome."

"Where the hell is he?" Ed dropped his house key on the counter and went to change out of his uniform while Winry took a seat on the couch.

"I'm always amazed at how clean this place is." she reached for one of Ed's alchemy books and started flipping through it to waste some time.

"Eh, it's all Al really. I swear he's Mom reincarnated, he can't stand to see something out of place or a dirty dish for a second!" he came out of his bedroom in a pair of jeans and his tee shirt thrown over his bare shoulder and started rummaging through the fridge.

Winry felt her cheeks heating up again, "Come on, we can eat over there. I'm supposed to be there at six so they can leave."

"Ugh, alright. What about Al?"

"He'll meet us there when he sees you're not home and he can always call."

They finally made it to the Hughes' house and found that Al had beat them there. He was sitting on the floor playing with Elysia and talking to Maes while Gracia was still up in their room getting ready for a night out with her husband.

"Yo, Al." Ed took a seat next to his brother and Elysia jumped on his lap and gave him a hug.

"I missed you Ed!" she linked her arms around his neck and squeezed him tight, Ed thought he could feel his face turning blue.

"I missed you too, Elysia." he laughed and released her arms from around him, "How was school? Did you learn anything cool?"

"No, not really!" she giggled and started wrestling with Al.

Winry joined in the conversation, laughing to herself, "I know how you feel, Elysia!"

"That's because I have the two most beautiful and smartest girls in all of Amestris!" Maes bellowed, reaching over to pat Winry on the head.

Ed, Winry, and Al met the Hughes family through Colonel Mustang and when Winry decided she wanted to move to Central and go to school, Maes wouldn't have her live anywhere else since Ed and Al only shared a small two bedroom apartment and had no room for her. He wouldn't let her pay rent or go without anything she needed, he just wanted her to be able to go to school and pursue her dream, Winry felt that the best way she could thank the couple for letting her live with them was to give them time to themselves whenever they asked for a night out. Winry was more than happy to watch Elysia for them whenever they needed her to and she's grown to love the little girl as if she were her little sister, maybe even her own child. Since Ed and Al were with Winry most the time she was with Elysia they have also made a special bond with the four year old and Maes and Gracia were happy to know that the brothers would never let anything happen to their daughter.

"Alright, I'm ready!" Gracia called from the top of the stairs and made her way down to meet her husband and the rest of her family. "Thanks again, Winry, we really appreciate you watching her."

"It's not a problem, we love spending time with her!" she went over to walk them out after they said their goodbyes to Elysia.

"You can let her stay up a little later tonight since Ed and Al are here, I know she'll want to play with them as long as possible!"

"Okay!" Winry laughed as she waved at them and watched them drive off. Chills ran up her spine as she watched them turn a corner and disappear from sight, she had gut feeling in her stomach that hadn't gone away since she got here earlier. Waving the thought away, she turned and went back inside before she could get a good feel of the cold weather.

"Come on, Win, what are we cooking for dinner?" Al asked her, getting up from the floor.

"You play with Elysia, Al, I can help her." They both looked at Ed and raised their eyebrows, "What? I can cook! They say alchemy started in the kitchen you know!"

"Whatever you say, Brother." he sat back down to rejoin Elysia in building a train track around the coffee table and Ed followed Winry into the kitchen.

"What are we cookin'?" he asked, watching her pull out two pots and a pan.

"Chicken, pasta, and some steamed broccoli." she answered, heading over to the fridge to get the broccoli and chicken. "Here," she handed him the pack of raw chicken, "You can cut the fat off!"

"Gee, thanks." he sighed, taking the meat from her and getting a knife out of the drawer.

After dinner, the three of them played a few games with Elysia and Winry watched as the brothers let the little girl tackle each of them to the ground in numerous wrestling matches. After a few more rounds and a couple games of hide and seek, Elysia was more than willing to go to sleep for the night. She kissed the brothers and Winry carried her upstairs and tucked her in, she read her a few short books and kissed her goodnight one last time, leaving the door cracked so she could hear her in case Elysia woke up crying from having a bad dream.

Ed and Al were in the kitchen, already looking to heat up the leftover food from dinner, Winry laughed to herself and reached for her coat as she headed for the door. She felt like she could use some fresh air.

She didn't know how long she had been sitting there when Ed came out and quietly sat next to her.

"What are you doing out here? It's freezing."

"Thinking."

"About?"

"School. Midterms are coming up in a few weeks. Work is driving me crazy, I'm sick of Sal always talking to me like I know nothing about mechanics." she shuffled her feet around in attempt to warm herself, "And...I've just had this weird feeling since we got here today. I can't really describe it, I just feel really anxious like I can't calm down and sit still and relax."

"What do you think it is?"

"I don't know, I'm probably just tired."

"Hm." Ed pulled out his pocket watch that read quarter past eleven, "Damn what are they doing out this late? They're usually home around ten thirty." Winry shivered in response and Ed pulled her up with him, "Come on, you can't be getting sick before your midterms!"

"Don't remind me." she started following him into the house when bright red and blue lights caught her attention, the police car pulled up into the driveway and two cops exited the car. "What the hell?" she pulled Ed back outside and he stood in front of her to meet the men that were making their way up to the Hughes' front door.

"Can I help you?" he asked defensively.

"Is this the Hughes' residence?" One of the men asked, looking past Ed to Winry who looked as if she'd seen a ghost.

"Yes, is there a problem?" she forced out, walking over to stand by Edward.

"You must be Winry." The other officer stated, "We are sorry to inform you that," he paused, his eyes trailed to the front door where Al was now standing, "Maes and Gracia Hughes have been killed in a car accident roughly forty five minutes ago."

Winry felt the blood rush from her head and the other officer spoke up again, "A drunk driver ran into them head on and they were killed instantly."

She couldn't feel her legs.

"Ma'am?"

"Winry?"

She couldn't feel anything. The last thing she saw was Ed looking over her and she found herself lost in his golden eyes until sleep took her over completely.

They were gone.  
>_<p>

_A/N: Don't worry! I won't forget about my other story! I've actually had this idea for a while now and finally decided to bring it to life. What did you all think? Please let me know! There's much more to come. :)_


	2. Life Is A Tragedy

_Life Is A Tragedy_

Winry didn't know how long she'd been asleep, her body still felt numb from hearing the news. She went to sit up and saw Ed out of the corner of her eye, hunched over in the chair against the wall, his eyes looked tired. He saw that she was awake and got up to sit on the corner of the bed, he pulled her into a hug and she couldn't help but burst into tears. He didn't know what to say to her, nor did she know what to say to him. She just cried and he just held her and rubbed her back softly, wiping away any tears he could catch with his fingers.

"What time is it?" she forced out, looking over to the doorway wondering if Elysia had been woken up.

"Midnight, you weren't out for very long. The MP are still downstairs with Al, Mustang and Hawkeye just got here, too."

She nodded and couldn't stop the new wave of tears pouring from her eyes, how could this happen? It almost felt like losing her parents all over again, she was overwhelmed with sadness and didn't think she could ever cry enough to express these feelings. It was the worst, the most horrible feeling you could ever imagine.

"E-Elysia," she choked and Ed pulled her close to him again, "Where's Elysia?" she couldn't help but cry more thinking of the now parentless, little girl that she loved so much.

"She's still sleeping, we didn't know if we should wake her or not."

"I don't know what to do, Ed." she looked into his eyes as if searching for answers, "What should we do? I can't be the one to tell her..."

"We'll figure it out," he soothed, "We'll figure this out, Winry."

She rested her head on his shoulder, she felt completely defeated. All she wanted to do was go to sleep and wake up with everything how it was before this new tragedy.

"Let's go downstairs, okay?"

She really didn't want to, but Ed was pulling her up from her bed before she could say no. She didn't want to go down there and listen to the two cops explain to her exactly why Maes and Gracia weren't here with her now, she didn't want to hear them tell her again how the driver of the other car was drunk and drove straight into them, killing them on impact, she didn't want to hear any of it. She wanted to get back into bed and hide from the world in her warm bed.

But she didn't fight him on it when Elysia popped into her mind, she needed to go down there for her. She needed to act like the adult she claimed she was and face this head on and try to figure things out for Elysia's sake. She had to be there for her and help her through this. She knew what it was like to have her parents taken from her long before their time.

What killed her the most was that Elysia was only four, a few years younger than she was when her parents were killed, meaning that she probably wouldn't remember her parents as vividly as Winry remembers her own.

That brought more silent tears to her eyes as she stayed focused on Edward's back while they headed down the stairs.

The two MP were seated next to Al, speaking too quietly for Winry to understand what they were saying. Roy and Riza were also there, like Ed said, sitting close to eachother as if they were seeking comfort in one another. Maes and Roy were best friends, so Winry knew he had to be taking it hard, she took notice of his eyes, they looked swollen from crying, Riza's too.

"Miss Winry, are you alright?" one of the cops asked, bringing the group's attention to her and Ed as they entered the living room.

"I'm alright, thanks." she answered softly, she hated that any attention was being focused on her when it should be all about the Hughes family right now. Ed lead her to the couch, taking a seat next to Riza and Winry sat down beside him, she glanced down to see his hand squeezing her knee, trying his best to comfort her any way he could.

"Now that we are all together, we can tell you what happened at the time of death." the older cop began, Winry took a deep breath in, trying to fight off tears, "At approximately ten thirty-nine, Maes and Gracia Hughes were driving East on thirty-sixth avenue and were struck by a drunk driver, who's identity we are still unaware of." Winry noticed Mustang's knuckles turning white and his features straining with fury, "We are aware that they have a four year old daughter who is currently under your care, Miss Rockbell?"

Winry nodded, "Yes, she's upstairs, asleep."

"We've received word that Mr. and Mrs. Hughes' attorney will be stopping by in the morning to go over legal guardianship with you, they'll help you figure out who the child will be staying with from now on."

Winry cringed, it wasn't right for Elysia to lose her parents and her home, all sense of stability would be completely lost and she would struggle with that as she got older. She knew taking Elysia from her home wouldn't help, someone needed to live here with her so she could maintain some sort of normalcy out of this mess.

"Should we wake her up?" Ed asked, looking to the older cop for advice.

"I advise that you let her sleep, when she wakes up in the morning Miss Rockbell can sit her down and have a talk with her before the attorney arrives."

Ed wasn't happy with that, "How the hell is Winry supposed to tell her that her parents are dead?"

"We are in no position to tell you how to break the news, Miss Rockbell doesn't have to tell her."

"Please just call me Winry." she hated the formality, Ed sat back down next to her, shaking his head.

"We'll leave you to discuss things amongst yourselves." the young officer said as he and the other cop got up to leave, "We are terribly sorry for your loss." they both shook hands with everyone in the room and Riza walked them out, shutting the front door quietly hoping to not wake Elysia.

"Winry, would you like for us to come back in the morning?" she asked her, taking her seat inbetween Ed and Roy.

"I would appreciate that, but if you two can't miss work I understand."

"Nonsense," Roy stood up, reaching for his coat, "We'll be here. She's my best friend's daughter, we'll be seeing you in the morning."

She nodded and Mustang and Riza said their goodbyes to the trio as they headed to the front door. Once they were gone, Winry collapsed onto the couch and let herself cry. Al rushed over to her and Ed sat down by her feet, resting his head in his hands.

"Winry, we're staying here, alright? We're not gonna leave you here alone." Al tried to calm her a little, he was crying himself. The Hughes' were like their own family, he couldn't help but cry along with his best friend.

"I just c-can't believe they're gone." she shook her head voilently, wanting so badly to be woken up from this nightmare. She looked up to see Ed standing in front of her, holding his hand out for her to take.

"Let's get you to bed, you need rest."

"I don't know if I can." she felt so helpless and conquered by her grief. She reached for Ed's hand and followed him to her bedroom and Al laid down on the couch, knowing that he would be tossing and turning all night, also.

She laid down and Ed pulled the sheets over her, he sat down and hugged her tightly, "We'll get through this." was all he said and he stood up to leave for the living room to join his brother. Winry grabbed his arm with a little too much force, showing clearly how desperate she was for him to stay.

"Please don't leave," she whispered hoarsely, "Just stay in here with me like when we were kids." Ed couldn't help but look at her and see Winry as a younger version of herself, begging him and Al to sleep in her room after her parents died. He remembered they stayed there with her a lot during that time.

"Okay." he laid down next to her on top of the covers, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable, this was not the time for things like that. She turned over to face him and scooted closer until their foreheads were almost touching. "We'll figure things out in the morning, please try to get some sleep, you can't be getting run down and sick. We need to be strong and healthy for Elysia."

She nodded and snuggled close to Edward and he felt his cheeks warm slightly. She wished she could wake up in the morning and find that these past few hours were just a nightmare, but she knew that she wasn't dreaming. She knew she needed to be strong for Elysia, but it would take everything she had not to burst into tears just by seeing her in the morning before anything had even been said.

She closed her eyes and tried to picture Maes and Gracia in heaven, free of pain and worry, no sadness and no hurt. She finally found herself falling asleep in the comfort of Ed's arms, his steady breathing and his beating heart being reassurance to her that somehow, things will be alright again someday.

_A/N: Thanks for reading. :)_


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